Don't you hate people that could've gotten everything cheaper. After the fact.

[Harold Mansfield]

I hate discussing how much I paid for anything with anyone.

I don't know what it is with people that they always have to boast about how they could have gotten something cheaper somewhere other than where you shopped, or paid less than what ever you paid for it.

And it doesn't matter what it is. It's always something such as...

"Aw man, you should have told me you were buying toilet paper ! I have a buddy that works for Charmin, I could have gotten a pallet of it for you for nothing !"

What they really mean is 7 years ago they met some guy on an airplane that does marketing for the Charmin company and at the time he may have dropped a business card and said, "Hey, if I can ever do anything for you, give me a call."

What the guy really meant was, "If you are looking to hire a marketing company and you have some money to spend, give me a call".

Hardly the "Hook Up".

They are always late with the deal and they always 'know somebody'. But when you ask those same people ahead of time if they know anyone...they always draw a blank.

Anyone have a friend like this?

[KristineS]

I've had this happen. I know a couple of people that have always gotten the "best" deal on something. It drives me nuts after a while. I'm price conscious, but I'm not going to spend my life trying to save an extra 10 bucks. Life's too short, and managing my money well is important to me, but I'm not obsessed by it.

[vangogh]

Some of those people feel the need to get the best bargain they can and want to let you know they can get it for you. Some are also trying to show off their "connections" in the hopes of impressing you.

Most are just annoying.

[Patrysha]

Yeah, I've been around the types who make it a big production to get the lowest price. I'm frugal but I only publicize it when it makes sense to...not to lord it over people or make them feel bad.

If it's a done deal I likely wouldn't mention it, unless it was fixable.

[Blessed]

I have a relative like this - she'll haggle with the phone company over $2 of internet use charges that shouldn't be on the cell phone bill. I just pay it and move on...

[Harold Mansfield]

I have a relative like this - she'll haggle with the phone company over $2 of internet use charges that shouldn't be on the cell phone bill. I just pay it and move on...

I'll do that if it's out of the ordinary. Too many times on certain bills I have seen an obscure , minimal charge that shouldn't be there and that most people will look over, but not me.

Probably comes from years in the Hospitality Industry and seeing the scams that some establishments and employees come up with to pocket a extra few bucks.

[Blessed]

the minimal charges shouldn't be there - because neither of us have internet plans on our phones... however I always accidentally push the internet button and it connects for a split second, my kids get the phone and... yeah it just goes on and on. So I simply pay those fees rather than spending a half hour every month to get someone to pull it off.

Now... if there is a weird charge on my land line, the utility bill, etc... I do call about those. And when we had credit cards I reviewed those bills carefully and called to complain anytime necessary.

[vangogh]

One thing about those weird minimal charges is phone companies know most people won't ever fight them. Add them up across all their customers and they make millions on those $1 and $2 charges.

[Harold Mansfield]

One thing about those weird minimal charges is phone companies know most people won't ever fight them. Add them up across all their customers and they make millions on those $1 and $2 charges.

I know, there have been times where I was charged a minimal amount for something that "The System does automatically", only to find out that it shouldn't have been there...at least not on my bill.

I TOTALLY believe that companies do that.

[Blessed]

I know they do that. And I know that long-run it's a definite profit thing for them and loss thing for me.

But I'm not going to spend 30 minutes on the phone trying to get it straightened out, because in that way - if not in any other way - I guess I'm like "most people" :)

[billbenson]

AOL was know years ago for continuing to charge after an account was canceled. A lot of posts about 1 and 1 doing the same thing, but taking it a step further and reporting you to a credit bureau if you try to cancel and cancel your credit card to keep them from charging it monthly. These are cases where it is / was part of their business model albeit more than a hidden buck here or there.

More on point, I know someone who buys stuff to use it once and returns them. He has the money. He also takes this kind of activity to extreme. Its a combination of ego (look who I screwed today) and ethics (pretty poor ethics although he does have limits). He's not necessarily cheap as he buys the best of everything and spends a lot of money.

[vangogh]

But I'm not going to spend 30 minutes on the phone trying to get it straightened out

That's what they're counting on. The only way to get them to stop is for enough of us to complain and get them to reverse the charges. That 30 minutes costs them more than the one or two dollars they might refund. They also have to pay the person on the phone talking to you.


He's not necessarily cheap as he buys the best of everything and spends a lot of money.

If he's returning everything can you really base how cheap or not he is by the amount of the purchase price? Once he returns the product he's spent $0.

[Harold Mansfield]

AOL was know years ago for continuing to charge after an account was canceled. A lot of posts about 1 and 1 doing the same thing, but taking it a step further and reporting you to a credit bureau if you try to cancel and cancel your credit card to keep them from charging it monthly. These are cases where it is / was part of their business model albeit more than a hidden buck here or there.


Oh, AOL was the worst experience I have ever had online. getting rid of them and all of their crap off of my computer was worse than having Poison Ivy without medication.
Just when you thought it was over, it just kept coming back in different areas.

I have a client looking to switch from 1and1 now and I told him to look out for some shenanigans.

[Blessed]

just thinking about AOL is enough to give me nightmares...